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Michael J. Caboose
Private Michael J. Caboose is a main character in Rooster Teeth Productions' machinima series Red vs. Blue. Voiced by Joel Heyman, Caboose first appears in The Rookies as a new recruit for the Blood Gulch Blue Team. Caboose is portrayed as one of the most eccentric characters in the series. Consistently shown to be mentally abnormal, his behavior varies from merely somewhat dim-witted in Season 1 to almost completely divorced from reality by Season 3 and onwards. Overview Caboose can be considered as, by far, the most unintelligent character in the series, although at first this wasn't noticeable. In Season 1, Caboose was dim-witted and less eccentric then he was in later seasons, where he later showed near detachment from reality. Because of his intelligence and unusual behavior, he acts very childish: treating serious situations like a game, envious for not being favored at some points, and having illogical reasons for his actions, which frequently earns him the scorn and disrespect of the series' other characters. Despite this, many characters show care for him, including the Reds, who he treats as neighbors instead of enemies. Caboose always tries to impress Church and help him as well, stating that they are best friends, despite the fact Church is constantly annoyed by him. In part due to positive early fan reaction, Burnie Burns, the main writer for the series, focused the storyline on Caboose and Donut (Dan Godwin), the Red Team's rookie. The staff later made Caboose less intelligent to add more humor in series. Later on Caboose, arguably, became the most iconic character of Red vs. Blue. Role in Plot Misadventures in Blood Gulch Prior to the series, Caboose was born and raised in a colony on the moon with 17 sisters. He joined the army after mistaking a recruiting center for college. Caboose first appears in Episode 3. Arriving with a tank named Sheila, he soon annoys the Blue Team's self-appointed leader, Church by accidentally calling his girlfriend a slut, and is consequently tasked with guarding the flag inside the team's base and waiting for a nonexistent general. Meanwhile, Simmons and Grif have sent their team's rookie, Donut, on a fool's errand for nonexistent supplies. In a mutual misunderstanding, Donut mistakes Caboose for a shopkeeper, and Caboose mistakes Donut for the "general" and allows him to take the flag. When Church and Tucker learn of this they try to get the flag back via teleporter. Church catches up with Donut mistaking him for Sarge. Seeing his teammates get attacked by Grif and Simmons in the warthog, Caboose gets into the tank who introduces herself as Sheila. Caboose accidentally kills Church while using Sheila and narrowly escapes a bombing run that disables the tank. Caboose begins to show affection towards Sheila. Near the end of season 1, Caboose becomes possessed by O'Malley, an evil artificial intelligence (AI) who transmits himself to Caboose via radio before his original host, a mercenary named Tex, is killed. In Season 2, Caboose starts to talk and act unusually, due to his infection by O'Malley. In I Dream of Meanie, Tex reveals to the Blues that the only way to truly defeat O'Malley is to enter Caboose's mind, eliminate him, & prevent him from entering anyone else. As a result, the Blue Team devise a plan to kill O'Malley. Episode 33 takes place inside Caboose's Mind, where Church and Tex explore as ghosts in an attempt to kill O'Malley. Into the "Future" There, they encounter Caboose's incorrect mental images of others and O'Malley kills the mental of Church leaving Caboose with no memories of him (which are later regained). Church and Tex successfully kill O'Malley escaping Cabooses mind, O'Malley then transferred to Doc who was calling Command. At the end of the season, Caboose becomes stranded with Sarge in an unknown location after a teleporter malfunctions. Caboose and Sarge escape from the Grunts, another set of respawning Red and Blue teams constantly fighting each other. After a bomb blasts most of the characters into the future, but Church into the past, Church learns of The Great Destroyer from Gary, a computer, who says that "The Great Destroyer" will be known as the stupidest life form in the universe". Church assumes that this description refers to Caboose, but later events and the introduction of a new character, the Alien, cause the characters to suspect that the Great Destroyer is not Caboose. After the Blues encounter the Alien and learn of its quest, Caboose is sent along with Tucker; after the quest fails, they return to Blood Gulch. Return to Blood Gulch Caboose is later injured by 'donating' some blood to Tucker's Alien baby. Afterwards, he regains his strength and is introduced to a new member on the Blue Team: Sister. Tex suddenly returns to Blood Gulch and attacks the Blues, in order to look for O'Malley. As a result to assist Tex, Caboose is picked by his team to distract Sheila, while Tex shuts her down, first backing down from the idea saying "It would be like a argument between Church and Tex...but with more getting shot by tanks". They succeed, but Sheila is shut down just before she reveals the location of O'Malley to Caboose. He convinces his team of this, and they decided to place Sheila's AI into the newly arrived ship. The Blues are suddenly contacted by Vic Jr. to attack the Red base. So, Church and Tex tell Caboose to stay behind, in order to ensure the success of the transfer. After the transfer completes, Caboose informs Tex by radio of the location of O'Malley; the leader of the Blue Team, Captain Flowers. Tex then pins down Church, believing him to currently be the leader, until Wyoming and Gamma ambush them. After a series of time distorting events, the Blues and Wyoming clones battle. Caboose distracts Gamma, now in the tank, and allows Tucker and Sheila to capture him in a firewall. Afterwards, Tex goes on a rampage to obtain Omega. Omega enters Caboose, leading Tex and Church to do so as well. When they exit, Caboose informs Church of Tex's location. However, Tex manages to obtain O'Malley, and enters Sheila, taking Junior, Gamma, and the Green Alien along with her. Returning to Blue base, Caboose asks Church- "Do you ever wonder why we're here?" Church answers, but Caboose corrects Church, by telling him that he wanted to stand in the shade. Church agrees and the two stand in the shade. Later Adventures Caboose reappears in Reconstruction: Chapter 3, having been stationed at Outpost 28-A "Rat's Nest" where he has been tied up and tossed in the brig for safe keeping. Before being transferred out of Blood Gulch, Church told him to upgrade his armor to Mk. VI, but instead he downgraded to Mk. V. The Rat's Nest Blue Team's leader, Lieutenant Miller, clearly dislikes Caboose and is delighted at Washington's request to take Caboose away. In the next episode, Caboose is reunited with Church (to the latter's chagrin). Some time after acquiring Delta, he was seen knocked out by The Meta. Wash managed to nurse him back to life with his healing unit, but was unable to revive him. Because of this, Church had to go into Caboose's mind again, this time encountering the mental image of Washington, as well as a "memory" of Delta he had left behind bearing the important message "Memory is the key". He eventually wakes up, but not until halfway through Chapter 12. The following episode Caboose, Church and Washington watch as the reds try to capture a warthog for the Blues to use. While Washington is distracted by an offending hornet, Church leaves his body to find Tex. After the battle Caboose comes up with the idea of getting to command in a tank (saying "No one can see you in a tank"). The team infiltrates the Project Freelancer compound, and Caboose is left with the Reds by Church and Washington, as lookout. Caboose spots command troops coming towards them and saying "Ahh... Red guys? Umm white guys are coming and they look mad......really mad". The Meta appears nearby, Caboose is given Epsilon for safe keeping. Wash asks if Caboose can drive to which Caboose replies "Only stick, not auto". Sarge, Simmons, Grif and Caboose are forced to drive away and escape the EMP. The Reds' jeep is disabled, but Caboose manages to escape the EMP (pronounced "emp") by driving off a cliff. In the epilogue, he is the sole occupant of the Blue Base in Valhalla. He is in possession of Epsilon, although Caboose has not implanted him into his system (which is probably a good thing considering the potential side effects that could be inflicted in the reality-divorced mind of Caboose) and appears to be trying to get the AI into Tex's old body. Secret Best Friend Project As of the end of Relocated, Caboose has acquired several other sets of equipment, with his intentions unknown. In Recreation, Caboose gathers parts from Sheila in order to create a new body for Epsilon. In Free Refills, he tries to hold a conversation with Epsilon (which is incapable of responding) reminiscing about his misadventures in Blood Gulch, only stopping when he notices that Donut has appeared behind him. Caboose excitedly welcomes Donut and the latter delivers a message to him. Donut, very weak, only manages to say, "Tuck....Tucker. He needs help...it's in...the sand..." before collapsing. Caboose mishears him and begins to question Donut for more, eventually coming to the conclusion that Tucker is in Donut's pocket. In Catching Up, Donut finally manages to tell Caboose everything: that he was debriefed by Command and sent to the site where the teams originally "landed" in Season 3 after the bomb went off. There he discovered a distress message from Tucker, saying to get help from Church. Caboose explains his own current status, including his plan to build a "super best friend" from Epsilon and various other parts. When Donut asks if they can get help from the man who previously helped Caboose, the two make a call to Washington, who has now been imprisoned, and ask for him to come immediately. Afterwards, Donut makes his leave to the Red Team before the Reds send Grif on a suicidal mission to rescue Donut. After having permission from Donut to use the Reds' holographic room, Caboose sneaks in without being seen by any Reds, except Grif. Caboose makes it inside with Epsilon, who starts making a humming noise and activates, releasing a mental image of Delta. Epsilon takes the form of Delta so Caboose has a better feeling to this form and tells Caboose about Tucker's secret mission investigating a large power source. When the Reds find Caboose inside, Caboose states that he is going to leave and rescue Tucker. Grif volunteers to go with Caboose, knowing what will happen when he dies, and Sarge accepts Grif's volunteering and decides to go with him and Caboose. The three leave, driving straight into the water, and stop on a beach so Caboose could have another bathroom break. Searching at the Desert The team then arrives at a desert and enter a mine field. Caboose and company try to make it through the mine field, but Caboose gets blown sky high till landing unharmed (but still with his stupidity intact, asking if anyone took a picture). The group gets a shock when the Alien (Smith) shows up, telling the elephant driver they have had experience with aliens. The man tells them they're in a restricted zone, and that a team of one human and one alien are only allowed. The group can't leave yet because their jeep (or warthog) is busted. The man let's them stay as long as they don't go looking for artifacts and gives them a quick quiz on what they do if they find an artifact. Afterwards, the man leaves the team to ponder among themselves. Grif and Sarge get suspicious about why they can't go anywhere else, Caboose just gets suspicious about why every things on the left. When Grif discovers that all of the radios are missing from the jeeps Caboose offers to help try and fix them. Grif asks him if he plans to confirm the radio is missing or how he plans to try and fix something that isn't there. When he remembers who he's talking to, Grif promptly gives up trying to reason with Caboose. Soon after, Caboose is crouching next to the warthog with Epsilon, asking for Sheila, Delta, and Tex. Sarge and Grif question him about what he's doing, and Caboose acts defensive about his activities. When the Elephant driver comes over and Sarge and Grif question him, he suddenly realizes Caboose isn't among them and threatens Grif if Sarge doesn't say where Caboose is (Sarge does nothing). An alarm is heard and three guards and three Aliens go running over to the Elephant. Angrily, C.T. asks them if that's him (Caboose) and Grif confirms that's likely. Caboose gets caught by the digging team, C.T. asks Caboose why he did that. Caboose simply says it was Epsilon's idea. Epsilon starts humming and the temple opens. C.T. orders his dig team to kill the attacker in there and not let the temple close. With the window of opportunity open, Caboose, Sarge and Grif escape, eventually bumping into the dig teams' attacker: Tucker. Helping Epsilon Tucker tells them to run inside the temple. Caboose is first into the Temple and Tucker seals the door behind them. Caboose also seems to still not know how babies are made, and is impressed by Tuckers use of the Bow-Chicka-Bow-Wow catchphrase. Caboose wanders off to find a vessel for Epsilon, after looking through multiple items Caboose finds a Forerunner Monitor. Finally finding a vessel for Epsilon, Caboose has some difficulties putting him in (Epsilon takes on Church's personality swearing at Caboose for making mistakes). Caboose and Epsilon get discovered by the Reds and Tucker about their work. As Caboose explains to everyone on how its Epsilon, not Church, Epsilon starts to hover away from everyone. Caboose and Tucker follow Epsilon as he tries to find out how to make his laser work but accidentally turns off his short term memory getting into a confusing conversation with Caboose. Epsilon soon gets a punch from Caboose, restoring his short term memory. In Revelation, Caboose made another dumb eulogy for C.T.'s dead comrades and decides to let Epsilon do it. Later on, Caboose got stuck on a pillar because the Aliens want to kill him for losing their "God". He later leads the aliens to the Reds, which he told them that they stole the "God". He ditched Tucker, leaving him to deal with the aliens. When Epsilon recovered, Delta was operating it's body and told Caboose that Epsilon is searching through his memories to find a certain part and says that Epsilon will most likely repeat the cycle like the previous incident. Caboose follows Epsilon-Church to the Freelancer Offsite Storage Facility and went in a secret room only accessed by the Director, which is filled with Alpha Church clones. However, Epsilon wanted to open a human-shape pod the back, which amazed Caboose. Afterwards, Caboose asks F.I.L.S.S. to keep the door shut and is afraid of what is in the room with Epsilon-Church. When the Reds come along, he quickly walks away leaving the Reds to deal with what was trying to beat its way out of the room, later revealed to be Tex. As Tex was beating the living hell out of the Reds and Tucker, Caboose stayed in the safety of the crane control room, where he argued with F.I.L.S.S. about helping his friends. Rescuing Epsilon Some time later he was confronted by Carolina, along with the other Reds and Blues, and helped her recover Epsilon. After spotting Epsilon through the sky rip of the unit, he pulled him out and filled him in on what had happened while he was inside. Epsilon complains and tells them to insert him back inside. Unable to, Caboose tells Epsilon that the "new lady" needed their assistance to help her get him out. Epsilon confuses the new lady for Tex, but Caboose tells that it is not Tex. The new lady suddenly reveals herself to be Carolina. Caboose later reveals that Blue Team replaced Church with Washington, whom Caboose calls "Church". When preparing to leave, Caboose finishes his explaination of Carolina's mission and the reason to get Epsilon, adding that the main purpose is a surprise party for the Director. The group then depart to Zanzibar. While on their pit stop, Caboose realizes they left Epsilon behind. Tucker tells him they didn't, and Epsilon appears next to Tucker, revealing himself to be in Tucker's A.I. slot. After Tucker and Epsilon leave to spy on Carolina and Washington, Caboose briefly talks to Simmons, who admits that he missed fighting only him. Carolina soon walks by allowing Caboose to question her on his teammates' whereabouts. Carolina shoots a pile of fusion coils, causing them to explode. She then tells Caboose to "put that into words", in which Caboose makes an explosion sound with his mouth. Caboose soon after joins up with his teammates, where Tucker asks Epsilon questions about Carolina. Epsilon replies stating that Tex told him about her, but Tucker corrects him, saying that Tex told Alpha, not Epsilon. Epsilon says its hard for him to remember certain things at times, in which Caboose replies that he has similar problems, like remembering his own name. Return to Valhalla The Reds, Blues, and Carolina arrive back at the desert to find C.T. While there, Epsilon and Tucker reminisce about their experience there, with Caboose butting in. The Reds suddenly arrive and ask the Blues for a temporary truce. When the Blues agree, the Reds talk to them about their concerns about Carolina. Caboose believes it to be a trap and asks Epsilon what he wants him to ask her. Simmons then asks Caboose if he could transfer Epsilon to something bigger than the monitor, in which Caboose agrees. Simmons then reveals that he is planning to insert Epsilon into Carolina's mongoose, much to Epsilon's dismay. When Carolina leaves with Epsilon, Wash gathers the group into a temple before dark. While there, Caboose is seen poorly spying on Washington. He then tells Wash that he was trying to gain information from him since they're friends, but leaves after failing. The Reds and Blues return to Valhalla to investigate the ship. Caboose shows Tucker their new Blue base, explaining all the wonderful things about it. When Carolina decides to leave, Tucker and Caboose speak with Epsilon, infuriated at the fact that he has gathered no information. Epsilon tells them to back off, and finally decides to have a word with Carolina alone. After talking to Carolina, Epsilon gathers everyone in the Red team's Holographic Chamber, where the final plan to kill the Director is discussed. However, the group refuse to help Epsilon and Carolina on their mission, causing Epsilon to get mad at blame them for all his problems. This results in the group to leave the Chamber, upset by Epsilon's words. Eventually, Caboose is one of the last of the group to leave. Rescue Mission Sometime later, the Blues manage to take all of the Red's equipment. Doc soon gives them an inspirational speech to the Reds and Blues, reminding them on how much they have changed since they first met. Following Doc's speech, the Reds and Blues decide to go help Epsilon and Carolina but Wash reminds them that the mission will be dangerous and the Director plays for keeps. After a speech from Sarge however, Wash agrees to help. Suddenly, a trio of UNSC Hornets surround the group and attempt to arrest them. The Reds and Blues, however, manage to take the Hornets and fly off to Carolina and Epsilon's location. The group arrives to find Carolina being attacked by an army of robotic Tex drones. In order to even the odds, Epsilon manually angers Caboose into smashing through the robotic army. Afterwards, the Reds, Blues and Carolina follow suit and battle their formidable opponents but are soon overwhelmed. Epsilon successfully manages to shut down the drones and then tells the group that he and Carolina must complete the next task alone. Shipwrecked After Carolina and Epsilon confront the Director, they decide to relocate the Reds and Blues to a place where they can call home. However, on their way back home, the Reds and Blues crash land a pardoned ship in an unknown location. So as a result, Tucker, Caboose, and Washington settle at their new Blue base, where Tucker asks Caboose of Epsilon's whereabouts, in which Caboose replies that "he is somewhere, but just not here right now", before retreating back to base. As time passes, Sarge asks Caboose for a proposition, which results in Caboose giving him the Blue team's tank. Frustrated, Wash tells the group that they must repair their communications tower before they run out of food and takes Caboose in the tank to have a word with Tucker. Back at Blue base, as Wash has Tucker perform various exercises for his irresponsibility, Caboose begins to feel depressed over Epsilon's departure and decides to go for a walk. On his walk however, Caboose discovers something mysterious: a robot. Caboose manages to repair the robot, which he calls Freckles, and introduces it to his team. Freckles' presence startles everyone, but Caboose treats Freckles like his own pet and the latter follows his every command. While training, Simmons defects to the Blue team, resulting in an argument between Wash and Tucker, which in turn results in the mistaken promotion of Caboose to Captain of the Blues, as inforced by Freckles. Sarge and Grif then suddenly attack the Blues in their Warthog, but Freckles destroys the Warthog and nearly kills Sarge. Suddenly, Donut, now arrived at the jungle, halts the commotion and informs the group that he brought help: Doc and Lopez. He also tells the group that the pilot left after dropping them off, infuriating the teams, who proceed to attack the rescue team. "Promotion" , initiate piggyback sequence!"]] Afterwards, Caboose, now the mistaken leader, poorly gives orders to Simmons, Tucker, and Washington. When Wash returns from his "duties", Caboose asks him if Freckles will look good in a sombrero. Wash uses this opportunity to have Caboose allow him to "inspect" the ship for enemies, which works successfully. After Simmons provides internet to the canyon, Caboose takes a picture of Freckles in a sombrero and uploads it onto Basebook, a social media site created by Simmons. Soon afterwards, Wash confronts Caboose and tells him that he has to accept the fact that Church is gone, as his pain in being abandoned has caused him to replace Church with Freckles. Wash also apologizes for not being a better friend to Caboose and, as a token of goodwill, reveals to him a new helmet. Overjoyed by Wash's gift, Caboose takes the helmet and tells Freckles to listen to Wash from now on, giving Wash back his Captain position. Unfortunately, Caboose's visor malfunctions, preventing him from seeing anything. Suddenly, four white armored soldiers attack Blue base, where Freckles is ordered to cover Caboose when the latter walks around aimlessly, due to his visor's malfunction. After Freckles kills the soldiers, the Reds and Blues regroup until they are confronted by both Felix and Locus. Locus injures Felix and asks the group to come with him, but they refuse. When Locus disappears, the group interrogate Felix, who explains that they crash landed on the planet Chorus, whose society is undergoing a civil war between the Rebels and the Empire. Felix asks for the group's help against the Empire, but they decline, only wanting to leave the planet. Nonetheless, Felix tells them to prepare for an attack. Personality Caboose seems to act very childish as his understanding of the world and actions are incorrect and shows a great amount of curiosity. However, Caboose does show a lot of care to many characters, even to the Reds, despite them being rivals. He often tries to impress others in order to gain their respect, although it often backfires in some way. Caboose shows a great amount of loyalty as well, as shown when he kept trying to resurrect Church through Epsilon. Because of his mentality, Caboose easily becomes hurt if insulted, such as in Change of Plans, and is easily abused, such as when he was tricked to shake the Alien's "other arm". Overall, Caboose may act like a child, but is very loyal and brave when the situation calls for it. Relationships Caboose's relationships with the other characters is unique in that a few episodes depicted the interior of his mind, where the incorrect mental projections of the other characters appeared (with the exceptions of Tex, Lopez, Doc and Sheila). Themes Lack of Intelligence Rooster Teeth notes that originally, there was no plan for Caboose as a character; he started out simply as the Blue rookie counter to Donut. Geoff Ramsey states on the DVD Commentary that Caboose was initially "smarmy" and "a very different character", albeit rather dim-witted. After fans reacted well to his moments of stupidity, however, the crew later orchestrated a long decline in Caboose's intelligence, starting when Sheila is disabled for the first time in Episode 9. His mentality is again dealt a blow after O'Malley is forcibly ejected from his system, and he becomes fairly divorced from reality and prone to frequent non-sequiturs, going as far as to load his rifle with crayons and spelling his own name wrong. This may also be attributed to the fact that Caboose's suit shut down for at least two days, and Caboose remarks "It was dark and I got to hold my breath!" and Church makes a comment about brain damage. Although, shown in season 1 to have the accuracy to get a headshot on a Church-possessed Sarge, he is quoted in saying he has no idea how to use the gun in Episode 82. He occasionally asks questions about things the others take for granted, such as why a flag is so important, and often fails to grasp even basic concepts, such as the meaning of AI. He also is able to fly into a berserk state by thinking about something that makes him angry, namely "kittens... kittens covered in spikes" and "Milk... no wait, red... RED BULL". He seems to have an extremely low voice and no recollection of what he did during this state. He attributes that to some kind of residual effect of O'Malley possessing him. All in all, Caboose's mentality could be compared to a baby or infant that can talk. While rather dumb, he manages to make a plan to infiltrate Command which succeeds, and shows a good degree of driving skill, escaping an EMP by driving off a cliff. When Washington questions whether he can drive, he states, "Yes, but not an automatic. Only stick." The reason for this is left unexplained. In Relocated, Caboose found the power in the blue base turned on, he believes electricity is "invisible magic". In True Colors, when he is enraged manually by Epsilon, he claims "My name is Michael J. Caboose and I... hate... taxes!" when referring to the army of Texes. Caboose also dosen't seem to know the difference between his face and his helmet; along with that, he is unaware that he has switched helmets, as stated in Barriers to Entry. Possible Causes There are several theories about the cause of Caboose's lack of intelligence. *During part 3 of the Out of Mind mini-series, Delta expresses concern about possible mental damage caused to Tex by the ejection of the Omega AI, and states that damage was caused when Gamma forcibly removed himself from Agent Wyoming. It is possible that similar damage ensued when Tex and Church forced Omega out of Caboose's Mind. *During the Project Freelancer AI experiments, Agent Carolina is known to have been implanted with two AI's simultaneously. According to Delta, having three minds at once drove Carolina insane. Agent Maine is also known to have suffered mental damage due to his implantation by multiple AI's. During Season 2, when Tex and Church (now known to be AI units themselves) entered Caboose's Mind to destroy Omega, Caboose would have been implanted with three AI units at the same time. It is highly unlikely that Caboose would have escaped this encounter without suffering severe mental damage as well. *It is possible that the firefight between Church, Tex and Omega inside Caboose's Mind in season 2 may have caused permanent damage to his thought process. Evidence for this includes when his mind's version of Church was shot, causing everything Caboose knew about Church to be forgotten, similarly to deleting a file on a computer. Thus, damaging his mind with weapons could have also led to brain damage. *During episode 89, it is revealed that the team once deactivated and rebooted Caboose's armor while he was still wearing it, and that it took longer to come back online than expected. Caboose apparently suffered near asphyxiation, claiming that it was dark and that he got to hold his breath. Friendly Fire Somehow Caboose manages to do serious damage to whatever body Church is possessing. He blew up his original body with a tank (Sheila) in Episode 8 and disabled the lower half of Church's body when he was possessing Lopez. He nearly killed a Church-possessed Sarge in Episode 14 by shooting him in the head with a Sniper Rifle and, in Reconstruction: Chapter 6, he shoots agent South Dakota. Humorously, this case of friendly fire was planned by Church, by stating that South was a friend and he should "help" her. Washington says that Command keeps a keyboard shortcut to announce Caboose's team killings: "CTRL+F+U". He is also implied to have shot Private Jones in the back after being released from the brig in Rat's Nest; Jones was later found dead. Caboose's views on team-killing are summed up during a conversation after Washington shoots Agent South; when Washington explains how Agent South "shot (him) in the back first", Caboose tells him that "We believe you...even though we don't think shooting a friend in the back occasionally...is that big of a deal." Buttons Throughout the series, Caboose has shown a love for buttons, proudly pressing the button that taps into the microphone in Tex's robot body and the button that blows up the explosives in Church's robot. Also, in Revelation, Simmons frantically asks Caboose to assist him in fighting Tex by pressing buttons, and this results in a large number of rocket launchers falling down off of a box (Much to Simmons's surprise, as this was immensely helpful). When he press the buttons, he makes his own button pushing noises, like "Beep bop boop boop bop boop". In the What I Did On My Summer Vacation PSA, he states "Man I can't wait to touch all these buttons." In which Jorge states to not touch, however he presses one and ejects Jorge from the Sabre. Skills and Abilities Physical Strength Though unintelligent and unskilled with weaponry, Caboose possesses tremendous physical strength, when angry or in simple situations, thought by Church and Tucker to be "God's way of compensating." For instance, Caboose was able to defeat both teams of Grunts and he was the only person at the time that could lift Andy in Season 3. In Recreation, he was able to flip a warthog right-side-up, with Sarge commenting "Wow. You are strong," and in Season 10, when Epsilon manually enrages him, he simply swept aside a large number Tex drones just by charging at them, easily overwhelming them with his raw power. Engineering Despite his lack of intelligence, Caboose has shown a surprising skill in engineering. In Recreation Caboose alone was able to put Epsilon into an alien artifact, and in Revelation, he was shown to successfully use the crane controls in the battle against Epsilon-Tex. In Season 10, he and Simmons were able to install Epsilon into Carolina's mongoose so they could spy on her. In Season 11, Caboose was successfully able to repair his pet war robot, Freckles, and the latter referred to Caboose as his "master". Kills Despite not having many skills, Caboose has killed/defeated several characters, although some were the cause of friendly fire. The Grunts.png|Grunts Image:Jones_Reconstruction.png|Private Jones Mongoose.png|C.T.'s men. Robo-Tex.png|Robotic Tex Drones Reception Caboose has been well-recieved by the community and has become one of the most popular characters in the series. In 2005, Caboose was selected as the Best Male Performance in the 3rd Annual Rockets on Prisoner Awards, which are intended to recognize exemplary work in Halo machinima. In his acceptance speech, Joel Heyman, his voice actor, acted in-character to honor Caboose. It has even been stated in the series that Caboose is considered the overall fan favorite and he's possibly the most known on several occasions, such as in the PSA Halo-Ween, as the Reds dressed up as him on Halloween. When asked how Caboose's character was developed, Joel Heyman stated that Caboose is the only character who knows he's in a videogame. Gallery Yellow Church and Caboose - S5.png|Caboose's mental image of himself Caboose sees epsilon and carolina.png|Caboose in the Halo 4 engine Caboose with Bison.png Caboose - PSA Sleeper.png|Caboose in live-action Cabooseplow.png Caboose about to charge - S10.png Caboose - S10.png Caboose1.jpg|Caboose Artwork (1) Caboose2.jpg|Caboose Artwork (2) Caboose's Important List of Stuff.png Donutandcabooseonmongoose.png AngryCaboose 2.png AngryCaboose 1.png Cabooseepsiloncgi.png Epsilon walks over to Tucker and Caboose.png Caboose, Sarge, & Simmons.png 11 3 washcaboose2.png 11 3 washcaboose.png Caboose near tank.png Wash and Caboose - S11.png Caboose - S7.png Caboose sees epsilon and carolina.png Caboose with Bison.png Trivia *Caboose has nine toes, as his left "pinky toe" fell off after Church shot him in the foot as an excuse to get Doc over to him. *Caboose's name is a reference to actor Michael J. Fox. *It seems Caboose's claims of being a 'vehicle destroyer' are actually true, as seen in his initial appearance in Reconstruction where he had destroyed every single one of the Rat's Nest Blue Team's vehicles on his own. *Recovery Command has a shortcut on their keyboard for the sole purpose of recording Caboose's team kills: Ctrl + F + U. *When Washington scans Caboose with a "BioCom" in Reconstruction: Chapter 10, Caboose's Brain Activity is listed as "UNK" (unknown), a reference to his limited intelligence. *At Battle Creek, Caboose 'wrote' his name on the wall of a base in bullets, mis-spelling it as "CABOSE". *In the Halo 3 engine, Caboose is seen wearing the MJOLNIR Mark V helmet, rather than the Mark VI helmet (With the exception of any appearances made prior to Reconstruction, where he is shown wearing the default Mark VI helmet). When this is pointed out to him, he claims that he was "upgrading", and that "In a top ten list, five is better than six!" In reality it's because Caboose and Church would have looked too similar due to their armor coloring, as well as the Mark V's simplistic helmet design, better suiting Caboose's personality. Caboose's helmet choice has proven to be useful, as it made Caboose immune to the effects of the "Armor Lock" safety protocol while the other characters in the Freelancer facility were affected during Revelation. Caboose's Epsilon-double also wears a Mark V helmet in Halo: Reach. With the change to Halo 4 however, which intially did not feature the Mark V helmet at the time of Season 11's release, Caboose returned to wearing the Mark VI helmet. When the helmet was later made available through DLC, Caboose once again regained it during the episode Neighborhood Watch. *Caboose is typically shown carrying an Assault Rifle, the iconic weapon of Halo: Combat Evolved, as opposed to the other characters who carry Battle Rifles, the iconic weapon of Halo 2. *According to Tucker, Caboose separates everything into two categories: He doesn't understand, or he doesn't care. *Caboose has only participated in the characters' "SON OF A BITCH!" moments twice. Once after being crushed by the falling debris of Donut's Ghost at the end of the "fight fight!" one of many alternate endings of episode 100 and once before being taken over by O'Malley (The Bitch part of that is spoken by O'Malley). *Caboose is very bad at eulogies. He seems to have no idea what they are as he started Church and Tex's with: "Dearly beloved. We are gathered here today to witness the joining together of Tex, and Church, in eternalness together, smuh- speak now, or forever rest in peace! With liberty… and justice… for all. The end!" His second one in Revelation, while almost salvaging Epsilon's "Parable" quickly deteriorates into another bunch of ceremonial cliches: "let there be cake, hallelujah, gesundheit!" *Revealed in Reconstruction: Chapter 18, Caboose can only operate a manual gear system on vehicles, not automatic. The reason for this remains unknown. *Caboose used crayons for ammunition in Season 4. *Caboose is the last of the eight main characters to appear in CGI animation. It was stated in the Rooster Teeth Panel at Comic Con 2010 that they had no plans to animate Caboose in CGI as of now (which led to a disappointing outcry from the audience). Though he was planned to be in CGI, and by the behind the scenes special feature on the DVD, Monty Oum made a model for Caboose. He was finally shown in full CGI in the episode "True Colors", fighting alongside the other Reds and Blues against an army of Tex drones. **Although, Caboose was seen previously in CGI on the Caboosisms poster and, although not done by Rooster Teeth, in the Season 9 PSA, What I Did On My Summer Vacation, where he appeared computer animated by Halo: Reach's in-game cinematic campaign animations. *Between Relocated and Recreation, it's been noted in the Valentine PSA that Church would rip out Caboose's heart and Doc would have to sew it back in. *After Omega left Caboose the first time, Caboose gained the ability to unlock beserk rage within himself saying "O'Malley taught me to be mean" during this enraged state Caboose talks in Omega's deep voice and is capable of incredible destruction. This has, however, has only been shown twice in the series. **As said above, Caboose has used that ability only twice, but he may have used it other times off screen. This is hinted in Reconstruction: Chapter 5 when Washington, Caboose, and Church find Sheila. Caboose gets angry when Wash keeps calling Sheila a program prompting Caboose to say, "Do not speak to her like that, she is not a program!" *Caboose has the second highest A.I. count in the series, being beaten only by the Meta, who has had ten. Caboose had five A.I. (Alpha, Beta, Omega, Delta, and Epsilon). * In Halo 4 - Spartan Ops mode, in the last mission of Episode Departure, The Core, if the player unlocks the achievement Roses vs Violets, Caboose will be heard slip in the radio transmissions between the SPARTANS Sarah Palmer, Robert Dalton, and the Majestic Squad. *Caboose, along with Sarge and Grif, is the one of the only characters in the series to appear in every season of Red vs. Blue. *Geoff Ramsey made a reference to Caboose and his team kills in Fails of the Weak: 126; "It's like that guy is playing on a team of multiple Cabooses." References Category:Characters Category:Blue Team Category:Simulation Trooper Category:Protagonists